PLAGUED by crippling back pain, Steve Goodhand set out to find his own remedy.

Now he is working to perfect an treatment machine which could be a boon to the millions who suffer similar problems.

And he is being assisted by a £33,151 of Smart grant from the Department of Industry to turn his idea into reality.

An engineer who has run his own car body repair business in Heywood for the past 12 years, Steve has done his homework, scouring medical books to bone up on various current treatments for back conditions.

He said: "Ten years ago, medical advice for back problems was total bed-rest. Now that has completely changed and medical advice is to get back to normal activity as soon as possible."

But as Steve knows, that can often be painfully difficult. Aged 43, he has suffered bouts of sciatica for the past three years, because three of the discs in his spine have worn thin, and keep trapping the sciatic nerve.

Prototype

He found physiotherapy and traction helpful, he said: "But the trouble is a couple of physiotherapy sessions a week are not enough. People need something they can use in their home, for regular therapy."

About five million adults consult their GP every year over back pain and 13m working days are lost in Britain each year, through such problems.

As an engineer, Steve, who lives in Norden, sees the spine as a machine. "It could be described in mechanical terms," he says, and he has invented a device that can "float" the spine by taking the load off it whilst also allowing gentle movement.

Until it is patented he is reluctant to describe it in more detail, but he says by taking the pressure off the spine, it helps the body to repair the damage caused by years of wear and tear.

He has built a prototype, and the challenge now is to make a one that is as light as possible, portable and possibly collapsible.

The Smart award, for research and develoment, will help him to do this, before finding a manufacturer to take up the product.

It is not the first time he has tried to get a bright idea on to the market - he invented a device which automatically started a stalled car, which attracted interest, but it never got to the manufacturing stage.